Elevator door sill protective device



June 6, 1933. c. T. WESTLIN ELEVATOR DOOR SILL PROTECTIVE DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 50, 1932 FIGZ FIGA

mu TN R m T A Mil MIA Whack June 6, 1933- c. T. WESTLIN 1,912,557

ELEVATOR DOOR SILL PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed April 30, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I5 5.) 25 i6 0% 7 4e 54 1 4a- 54 f 3 4| Q 40- 24 37 Q F167 F I G. 8

M17141; mam INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1933 UNETEI) STATES PATENT" OFFICE CARL TOBSTEN XVESTLIN, OF CORNWALL, NEW YGRK, ASSIGNOR T OTIS ELEVATOR- COIFEPAIJY, 0F NEEV YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY ELEVATOR DOOR SILL PBGTECTTVE DEVICE Application filed April 30,

The invention relates to protective devices and especially to guards for door sills of elevator installations.

The invention is concerned with improving the safety of elevator installations and is of especial utility in installations in which both' the starting and stopping of the car are controlled by the passengers and intending passengers themselves.

Elevator systems of this type, which are usually known as push button elevators, have been in common use for a great many years. From the first it was found desirable to provide a gate on each car and a door to guard each hatchway opening for the protection of the users of the installation. To insure the closing of the car gate and hatchway doors, circuit controlling contacts were provided for the gate and for each hatchway door to be operated thereby upon the door and gate reaching closed positions. The circuits were arranged so that thecar could not be started all of these contacts were in engagement. At that time, both the car gates and the hatchway doors were manually operated. These installations proved objectionable because it sometimes happened that a hatchway door or the car gate, particularly the latter, was left in open position, preventing the calling of the car to another floor.

In these earlier days of push button elevators, mechan sm for operating the hatchway doors and car gates had not been developed to the point where it was considered satisfactory. Also, the cost of such mechanism was prohibitive for push button installations. Self-closing mechanism for sliding doors and for-sliding and collapsible gates, as developed up to that time, added so much to the force required to open the doors and gates as to render such mechanism objectionable for push button installations. However, it was found satisfactory to provide self-closing hatchway doors of the swinging type the closers for these doors did not exert suiiicient force in opposition to the opening of the doors to be unsatisfactory.

There still remained the problem of over coming the objection of passengers leaving the gates in open position after usingthe cars.

1982. Serial No. 608,3 7

This led to the development of an arrangement which permits the operation of a car wlt-h the gate open, so long-as the car is empty,

but makes it necessary to close the gate, when Closers for sliding hatchway doors have been greatly improved since the adoption of the movable platform, rendering sliding doors suitable for push button installations. As a result, self-closing sliding hatchway doors are employed in many present day push button installations, although it is preferred not to make the car gate self-closing because of difiiculties of operation and possibility of injury to persons and damage to apparel. It is desirable in many of these installations to use two-speed sliding hatchway doors, i. e., doors arranged in two sections operating on spaced parallel tracks with the section which engages the amb moving at twice the speed of the other and overlapping it when the door is in open position. lVith this arrangement, one of the sections is farther from the edge of the sill than the other. Thus, when the door is closed, the sill area exposed in the hatchway opposite the outer door section is greater than that opposite the inner door section.

The present invention is particularly directed to guarding the hatchway door sills of elevator installations in which two-speed doors are employed. WVith the hatchway door sills guarded so as to force a person onto the car when the hatchway door is closed and with the car threshold plate movable with the car platform to force the closure of the car gate, when any one is on the car, before operation of the car may be had, an

installation is provided in which the danger of injury to persons is minimized.

One feature of the invention resides in the provision of guarding means for the sill for a two-speed sliding hatchway door which effectively prevents any one within the hatchway obtaining a foothold on the sill or on the guarding means when the door is in closed position.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a guard for that portion of the sill for a two-speed sliding hatchway door between the car and the outer door section, when the door is closed, which moves into the other door section when the door is moved to open position.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of guarding means for the sill for a two-speed hatchway door which is 2 strong and yet of simple construction, which is positive in operation and which may be cheaply manufactured and installed.

Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following description and appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view with parts in outline and other parts in section, of a portion of an elevator car and a two-speed hatchwa door with the fast speed door section flus with the hatchway wall and with a guard for the door sill between the slow speed door section and the car in accordance with the invention, the door being illustrated inclosed position;

Figure 2 is a fragmental elevation, as viewed from inside the hatchway, of the arrangement of the hatchway door and guard illustrated in Figure 1, parts being broken away to show details of construction;

Figure 3 is an end view on an enlarged scale of the hatchway door arrangement shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4.- is a detail taken from Figure 3 illustrating the guard in an end view;

Figure 5 is a detail taken from Figure 3 of the fast speed door section, illustrating in an end view the arrangement for guiding the guard into the door section:

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the door in open position;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the door in open position; and

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 3 of an arrangement for installations in which the fast speed hatchway door section is not flush with the hatchway wall.

Referring to Figures 1 to 7 inclusive, the

v elevator car, designated 10. is illustrated as provided with a movable platform 11. The threshold plate 12 for the car is movable with the platform. The gate 13 for the car is shown in open position and is illustrated schematically as of the collapsible type. The

gate is manually operated both in opening and closing. The lower guide channel for the gate is arranged in the threshold plate 12 and is indicated at 14.

The fast speed section of the hatchway door is designated 15 and the slow speed section 16. The door is manually opened but it is preferred that it be provided with mechanism for biasing it to closed position. Such mechanism is not illustrated in order that the drawings may be kept as simple as possible. It is to be understood that such mechanism includes linkage connecting the door sections in such manner as to cause the slow speed section, during operation, to move at half the speed of the fast speed section.

The usual overhead and underneath guide tracks are provided for the doors, only the tracks beneath the door sections being illustrated and being designated 17 and 18. These tracks are in the form of channels. Guide shoes are secured to the bottoms of the door sections and extend downwardly into the channels. These guide shoes, designated 19, are illustrated schematically in the drawings. A bumper 20 is provided for engagement by the fast speed door section to limit the closing movement of the door, while a bumper 21 is provided for engagement by slow speed door section 16 to limit the opening movement of the door.

The inner surface 22 of the fast speed door section is made flush with the hatchway wall 23. This effectively guards the door sill for that portion of the hatchway entrance. The slow speed door section is set back from the wall a sufficient distance to permit operation of the fast speed section.

A guard 24 is provided for covering the portion of the sill extending between door section 16 and the hatchway wall when the door is closed. This guard, being in the path of movement of door section 15, must be moved out of the way of this section when the opening of the door is effected. This is accomplished, in accordance with the present invention, by arranging the parts so that the guard is moved inside door section 15 as the opening of the door is effected.

It has been found that door sections may be very satisfactorily constructed by secur ing metal plates 25, forming the sides of the door, to a framework constructed of channel members. Such arrangement has been illustrated in which the edge and bottom channel members are shown and are designated 26, 27 and 28. To form a pocket or hollow 31 in the bottom of door section 15 to receive guard 24.- as the door is moved to open position, a portion of channel 27 is cut away at the bottom and an additional channel 32 is arranged parallel with channel 28 between the bottom of the remaining portion of channel 27 and channel 26. Fibrous ma terial 30 is arranged inside the door above channel 32 for sound-proofing purposes.

A plate 33 covers the opening in the edge of door section 15, being secured, as by screws 49, to channel 27 and guide shoe 19. A slot 34 is provided in the plate to admit the guard 24. This plate supports one end of the guard when the door is closed and acts to guide. the guard into the pocket 31 during the opening movement of the door. It is pref-erred that the material of this plate have a low coefficient of friction and be resistant to wear. Certain compositions have been found very satisfactory for this purpose, one which is particularly suitable being a composition of a phenolic compound and graphite with a suitable filler such as canvas. If desired, the material may have inserts of perforated metal for strengthening purposes.

The guard 24 is pivotally supported at its other end by a. bracket 35 secured to the rear edge of door section 16. To effectively guard the portion of the door sill between the car and door section 16, the whole of this portion of the sill should be covered when the door is closed. The arrangement of guard 24 in accordance with the invention provides this full protection.

According to the preferred construction, the guard extends at an angle of approximately sixty degrees from the edge of the door sill upwardly to the inner surface of door section 16. The distance from the edge of the sill back to the slow speed door section 16, and therefore the space occupied by the guard, is greater than the thickness of door section 15. To enable the guard to move into pocket 31 as the door is moved to open position, the portion 38 of the guard just outside the pocket when the door is open is twisted. This twist is about a center in line with the center of the pivot at bracket 35 and is in a direction to increase the::angle to the horizontal of this portion of the guard over the remaining portion thereof. This arrangement causes the guard to turn about its pivot as the initial opening movement of the door tak s place, the amount of the twist and the angle of slot 34 being such as to cause an amount of turning movement suflicient to permit the guard to move all the way into the pocket 31 as the door continues its opening movement.

The pivotal support for the rear end of the guard is formed with a bearing in bracket 35 through which a pivot pin 1O extends. This pin is secured to the guard as by welding and is threaded, on its outer end to receive assembly and lock nuts 41.

The guard may be cheaply and simply formed from a metal plate. This plate, at the top and bottom, is preferably bent over upon itself and at an angle thereto, for strength ening purposes. Such arrangement has been illustrated (see particularly Figure 4) in which the bent-over portions are indicated at 36 and 37 The slot 34 is of the same outline at its ends as the guard, as may be readi ly see from Figure 5. The dimensions of the ends ofthe slot are such that the twist portion 38 of the guard extends into the slot with p a close fit.

The twist in the guard is rather sharp and thus the twist portion is short, obviating the possibility of any one obtaining a toe-hold on this portion'of the guard when the door is closed. The twist is not continued into that portion of the guard which extends from the outer surface of plate 33 into the pocket when the door is closed. This insures the clearing of channel 26 by the guard when the door is in open position. The bottom of guard 24 is raised above the door sill a sufficient amount to clear channel 28 when the door is closed. The amount Of gap thus provided, however, is not sufiicient to permit anyones foot to be extended under the guard onto the sill. A small clearance is provided between guard portion 36 and the inner surface of door section 16 for operating purposes.

In operation, upon the door being moved to open position, the twist portion 38, moving into slot 34, as relative movement of the door sections takes place, causes counterclockwise movement of the guard about its pivot, as viewed in Figure 3, until the remaining por tion of the guard is aligned with the slot. Thereafter, as continued opening movement of the door takes place, this remaining portion of the guard moves into the pocket 31 in the bottom of the door section. The position of the parts with the door in full open position is illustrated in Fi ures 6 and 7. Upon movement of the door to closed position, opposite operation takes place in that the guard is moved out of the pocket as the result of the more rapid movement of door section 15, and, upon the twist portion. 38 reaching the slot, the guard is turned clockwisev about its pivot back into its guarding position, illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

The above described arrangement absolutely prevents any one inside the hatchway supporting himself upon the door sill or guard when the door is in closed position. The portion of the sill below the fast speed door section is covered by the door section itself, owing to the inner surface of this section being flush with. the hatchway wall. The portion of the sill. between the car and the slow speed door section is covered by the guard 24. This forces people inside the hatchway to stand on the movable car platform or its threshold plate, thereby separating the platform switch contacts to render it necessary for the gate to be closed before the car can be started.

The invention has been'described as ap plied to an installation having the fast speed hatchway door section flush with the hatchway wall. However, it is equally applicable to installations in which thefast speed door ios section is back from the wall. An end view of such arrangement has been illustrated in Figure 8. In this figure, the slow speed door section is designated 45 and the fast 5 speed door section 46.

According to the preferred construction, the fast speed door section is enlarged at the bottom to form a guard 47. This guard extends downwardly and inwardly from the rear surface of the door to the edge of the sill where a considerable vertical portion 48 of the guard is made flush with the sill edge.

A guard 51 is provided for covering the sill from its edge back to the slow speed door section 45. The arrangement is similar to that previously described in connectionwith Figures 1 to 7 inclusive. Owing to the greater width of sill area to be covered from the hatchway wall to slow speed door section 4.5 than from the hatchway wall to slow speed door section 16, guard 51 is of considerably more height than the guard 24. Guard 51 extends through a slot 52 in a composition plate 53 secured to the rear edge of door section 46 by screws 54. The slot 52 slidably supports the guard at one end while the other end of the guard is pivotally supported by a bracket 55 secured to slow speed door section 45. The guard, extending from the edge of sill back to the slow speed door section, occupies a horizontal space greater than the combined thickness of guard 47 and the fast speed door section. Twist portion 56 formed in the. guard 51 in the end entering slot 52 causes the guard to turn about its pivot as the door starts its opening movement. This, as in the case of the arrangement in Figures 1 7, permits the guard, during the opening of the door, to be moved into a pocket formed in the bottom of door section 46 beyond plate 53.

Although the arrangement illustrated in Figure 8 may be employed for new installations, it is particularly suitable for installations which have already been installed and in which the fast speed door section is back from the edge of the sill. Such installations may be readily changed over by installing a new fast speed door section of the form shown and supplying the slow speed section with a pivot bracket for the guard.

The guarding mechanism is of simple construction and of few parts, and may be cheaply manufactured and installed. The arrangement for moving the guard about its pivot to permit it to move inside the fast speed door section is positive in action, thus assuring no interference in the operation of the door. The plates 33 and 53, being of a durable material having a low coefficient of friction, minimize wear and therefore the necessity of early replacements. However, the construction admits of easy replacement of parts in case this becomes necessary.

Although described in connection with an installation in which a movable car platform is provided, the guarding mechanism is also applicable to other installations, as, for example, those in which the doors and gates are operated by power mechanism or those in which both the doors and gates are manually opened and self-closed. In fact, the invention is applicable to any elevator installation having two-speed sliding hatchway doors in which there is a possibility of any one standing on hatchway door sills with the hatchway doors closed.

In rare cases, three-speed doors may be used'for wide openings, in which case three sections at different distances from the hatchway are employed. The principles of the invention are applicable to such arrangement, as by providing separate guards similar to those above described for covering the exposed portions of the sill.

The construction of the guard and slot may be varied, as, for example, by making the guard without the portions 36 and 37 and of a material of sufficient thickness to have the desired rigidity. Also, other arrangements may be provided for causing the guard to enter the pocket. A less satisfactory -arrangement may be provided by having the effective horizontal width of the guard less than that of the inside of the pocket, in which event the pivotal motion of the guard is eliminated. It is preferred, however, to pro vide the pivoted construction as it affords fu l protection over the whole sill area and any arrangement for effecting rotativemovement of the guard to cause it to enter the pocket in the door section is within the scope and principles of the invention.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

lVhat is claimed is:

1. In an elevator installation in which a hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said door having at least two sections arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway in the opening and closing of the door, means for covering the portion of the sill for said door opposite that one of said door sections farther from the hatchway when the door is closed, and means forming a pocket within the other one of said sections for receiving said covering means when the door is open.

2. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said sections being arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway in the opening and closing of the door, means for covering the portion of the sill for said door opposite the door section farther from the hatchway when the door is closed, the other door section being formed with a pocket extending into the interior thereof, and means for guiding said covering means into said pocket upon relative movement of said sections in opening the door.

I 3. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said sections being arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway with the section farther from the hatchway moving at half the speed of the other in the opening and closing of the door, a guard extending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the sill for said door to the slow speed door section when the door is closed, the fast speed section being formed with an interior pocket for receiving said guard, and means for guiding said guard into said pocket as the fast speed door section overtakes the slow speed door section during movement of said door into open position.

4. In an elevator installation, a hatchway door having two sections arranged for sliding movement, with one section moving at a fast speed and the other at a slow speed in the opening and closing of the door, said fast speed section being flush with the hatchway wall and the slow speed section being back from the wall sufficiently to permit the operation of the fast speed section, a guard for the portion of the door sill opposite said slow speed door section when the door is closed, said guard extending from the edge of the sill back to the slow speed door section, said fast speed door section being formed with a pocket to receive said guard, and means for guiding said guard into said pocket when the door is opened.

5. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator ear, said sections being arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway in the opening and closing of the door, a guard extending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the portion of the door sill opposite the door section farther from the hatchwa-y, when the door is closed, up to that section so as to cover that portion of the sill when the door is closed, the other door section being formed with an interior pocket at the bottom thereof to receive said guard when the door is open, said guard, when the door is closed, having an effective horizontal width greater than that of the inside of said pocket, and means for turning said guard into position to permit it to move into said pocket as the door moves into open position.

6. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said sections being arranged to slide relative- 1y to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway with the section farther from the hatchway moving at half the speed of the other in effecting the opening and closing of the door, a guard extending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the portion of the door sill opposite the slow speed door section, when the door is closed, up to said slow speed section so as to cover that portion of the sill when the door is closed, said guard thus being in the path of movement of the fast speed door section, the fast speed door section being formed with an interior pocket at the bottom thereof to receive said guard when the door is open, said guard, when the door is closed, having an effective horizontal width greater than that of the inside of said pocket, and means for =automatically turning said guard, upon the initial opening movement of the door, into position to decrease its effective horizontal width to less than that of the inside of said pocket to permit it to move into said pocket as the door moves into open position.

7 '7'. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said sections being arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway with the section farther from the ha-tchway moving at less speed than the other in effecting the opening and closing of the door, a guard eXtending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the portion of the door sill opposite the slow speed door section, when the door is closed, upwardly to said slow speed section so as to cover that portion of the sill when the door is closed, said guard thus being in the path of movement of the fast speed door section, means forming a pocket inside the fast speed door section at the bottom thereof to receive said guard when the door is open, said guard, when the door is closed, occupying a space greater than the thickness of the fast speed door section, and means operable by the initial movement of said fast speed door section in the opening of the door to turn said guard into position to permit it to move into said pocket as the door continues its opening movement.

8. In an elevator installation, a hatchway door having two sections arranged to slide in different vertical planes, a guard for the portion of the door sill opposite the door section farther from the hatchway, when the door is closed, said guard extending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the sill back to that door section, the other door section being formed with a pocket for receiving said guard when the door is open, means for slidably supporting said guard at the entrance of said pocket, and a pivotal support for said guard at its other end, said guard being formed with a twist portion at its end entering said pocket for cooperating with said slidable support to turn said guard about its pivot during the initial opening movement of said door to permit said guard to move into said pocket as the door moves to open position.

9. In an elevator installation, a hatchway door having two sections arranged to slide in different vertical planes with one section moving at a fast speed and the other at a slow speed in the opening and closing of the door, said slow speed door section being farther from the hatchway wall than said fast speed door section, a pivoted member for guarding the portion of the door sill opposite said slow speed section when the door is open, said member extending at an angle to the horizontall from the edge of the sill back to said slow speed door section and occupying a horizon tal space greater than the thickness of the fast speed door section, said fast speed section being formed with a pocket for receiving said member as the door is opened, and a platevacross the receiving end of said pocket, said, plate being formed with a slot and said member with a twist portion which enters said slot and causes the member to turn during the initial opening movement of the door to a point where the horizontal space occupied by said member is less than the width of said pocket, thereby permitting said member to continue to enter said pocket as the door continues its opening movement.

10. In an elevator installation in which a two section hatchway door is provided to close an entrance at a floor to the elevator car, said sections being arranged to slide relatively to each other in vertical planes at different distances from the hatchway with the section farther from the hatchway moving at half the speed of the other in the opening and closing of the door, a guard extending at an angle to the horizontal from the edge of the portion of the door sill opposite the slow speed door section, when the door is closed, up to said slow speed section so as to cover that portion of the sill when the door is closed, said guard thus being in the path of movement of the fast speed door section, the inside of the fast speed door section being formed with a pocket at the bottom thereof, said pocket having an opening at the rear edge of said section to receive said guard when the door is open, said guard, when the door is closed, having an effective horizontal width greater than the thickness of the fast speed door section, a pivotal support for one end of said guard secured to the rear edge of the slow speed door section, and a plate secured to the rear edge of the fast speed door section across said opening for said pocket, said plate having a slot therein to slidably support the other end of said guard, the end of the guard which enters the pocket being formed with a twist portion for cooperating with said slot to turn said guard about its pivot during the initial opening movement of the door to permit said guard to move into said pocket as the door moves into open position.

11. In an elevator installation, a hatchway door having two sections arranged to slide in different vertical planes with one section moving at a fast speed and the other at a slow speed in the opening and closing of the door, said slow speed door section being farther from the hatchway wall than said fast speed door section, a guard for the portion of the door sill opposite said slow speed door section when the door is closed, said guard extending from the edge of the sill back to the slow speed door section, a guard on the bottom of the fast speed door section extending out to the edge of the sill, the bottom of the fast speed door and the guard thereon being formed with a pocket to receive said first named guard, and means for guiding said first named guard into said pocket as the door is being opened.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CARL TORSTEN VVESTLIN. 

